Clannad are an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal. Their
music has
been variously described as bordering on folk and folk rock, traditional Irish,
Celtic and New
Age, often incorporating elements of an even broader spectrum of smooth jazz
and
Gregorian chant. After twelve years of success in the folk music industry, they
shot to
international recognition in 1982 with the release of the “Theme from
Harry's Game”,
becoming the most successful band in the Celtic music genre. They subsequently
went on to
bridge the gap between traditional Celtic music and pop music in the 1980s and
1990s with
albums such as Macalla and Anam. Their records usually consist of traditional
Gaelic ballads,
New Age tracks that carry the group’s trademark of haunting vocal harmonies,
mellow harpbased instrumentals and often upbeat pop flavourednumbers.